Ask the Car People.SM


BMW 3-Series 2005 and earlier

30250 messages,  Last post on Mar 24, 2013 at 11:51 AM

You are in the BMW 3-Series Forum.

What is this discussion about? BMW 3 Series, Sedan

Messages Page 2274 of 3026

#22724 of 30250 JAY108 is correct on the 318i - However by dan_bmw

Apr 17, 2003 (12:01 am)

Regardless of the previous trolling antics, I have to agree with JAY108 on the head gasket problem. I bought a new 1994 318i for about $25K. This was my first "luxury" car and my first BMW. After he got over my jeans and T- shirt, the dealer treated me like I was the most important person on earth.
 
Two weeks later at the car wash, my distributer flooded and the car had to be towed. A year later the gas guage had to be replaced. Later the gas port separated from the tank and gas started leaking. All these items were immediatly corrected by my dealer at no charge. At 75K miles I drove from Red Bank NJ to Albany NY round trip. I averaged about 85 miles per hour hitting speeds of 110 MPH most of the way. When I returned home I was leaking coolant. Since I was no longer covered under warranty, I had the water pump and timing chain replaced through a non-BMW mechanic at my cost. We found out it was actually a blown head gasket causing the problem and moved the car to the original BMW dealer. A head gasket repair can cost well over $3000 if the head needs to be replaced (aluminum heads sometimes melt or warp) and about $1800 for just the gasket replacement. The dealer did the job for about $1000. I found that blown gaskets with some 318 and 325 MYs were common defects.
 
My point is that I had only one regret with my BMW purchase. My only regret is not originally buying the 325 which was $6000 more. I still own the 318i (It's my daughters carin my name. At 110K miles, it is still a fantastic car and looks showroom new (Except for the M spoiler my daughter hooked on). I offered to buy her a new Jetta and she said "No thanks Daddy, you and I will save for another BMW". I own a 2001 Acura TL and it is a great car but I still love to jump into the 318 and toss it around. The Acura is fine but the 318 handles considerably better and is much more fun to drive. I am awaiting delivery next week on a new Orient blue/gray 330i and my plan, God willing is to buy a 530i three years from now. In my opinion, a BMW can't really be compared to a Hyundai, KIA, or too many other cars for that matter. Some japanese and American cars are a great value. But, there is something about the German car, personified through the BMW, that is so life affecting, delivers such a pride of ownership, a classic value, a memory maker and a fun car that will never bore you (like I do).
 
Dan

#22725 of 30250 5-series Reliability on CR by bigorange30

Apr 17, 2003 (4:09 am)

The comment that CR makes about the best car they've ever tested is no reference to how reliable it is. The fact is that they give it only an average reliability rating. The "best" is only about the TEST. This includes things like handling, performance, their opinion about styling, functionality (not reliability) of the power and electronic equipment and general ergonomics. Remember that the reliability figures they gather and quote are empirically collected from actual owners about their actual experiences.
 
Now, about the Infiniti QX4 that my wife drives now, CR stated in April 2002 that it is the "most reliable vehicle on the road."

#22726 of 30250 318 Cylinder head $$$ by jay108

Apr 17, 2003 (5:15 am)

I bought a used cylinder head for my 318, it was shipped UPS and got delayed 2 weeks during that strike 6 years ago. Once installed I think it was about $2500.00, though I didn't really look at the bill.
FWIW: Consumer Reports 4/2003 says to avoid 2000-2001 BMW 3 series; they also say to avoid Chevy Venture which my wife drives and its been pretty good.
Probably the main reason I don't have a luxury car at this point is my small kids might scratch it getting bikes and toys out of the garage, that phase will pass in a few more years.

#22727 of 30250 AWD again by jgravel

Apr 17, 2003 (5:28 am)

Shipo and Brave1heart, thanks for the posts. I'll think a little more about RWD vs AWD but I'm still leaning toward AWD. I have about 2 years left on my current employment contract after which my driving requirements (25K-30K miles per year) will cut way back and I'll probably change cars again. A 330xi may not be as fun as an M3 but it will still be pretty good.
 
BTW, I'll be putting 4 snow tires on even with the AWD. I guess after 47 winters in New England I'm not willing to take any chances.
 
Thanks again for the insights,
 
-Jay

#22728 of 30250 seivwrig by njslats

Apr 17, 2003 (6:36 am)

Thanks for the feedback. You echoed what I have been thinking. Am going to test-drive tomorrow (though I'm guessing local dealers don't have performance package equipped cars on the lot).
Chris

#22729 of 30250 markjenn by kdshapiro

Apr 17, 2003 (6:58 am)

The problem with CR, and I have a subscription to them, is the data is at a 50,000 foot level. Case in point. I had three Nissan vehicles over a 6 year period. Each Nissan vehicle required an unscheduled trip to the dealer every few months to fix some niggling problem. Evaporater freezing, check engine lights, rear axle clunks, failing remotes, etc. None of these issues ever left me stranded, but they were surely annoying.
 
My BMW hasn't seen my dealer for an unscheduled visit in nearly a year (slightly less). So while CR might have their methodology to predict reliability, I do agree anecdotally that Japanese cars are more reliable, in my case however, I haven't seen it.
 
bigorange - Most people I know do not put reliability first when buying a car. If they did, buying patterns would be very different. Predicted reliability is one part of the overall equation. Honda would have gone into bankruptcy if people really took the transmission issue as legend and gospel. While we may debate overall reliability from model to model, people I know ensure their future car is not a clunker. They don't look to see if CR rates it #1 overall in reliability and then makes a decision based on that.

#22730 of 30250 I agree that reliability is not the only factor by bigorange30

Apr 17, 2003 (7:07 am)

but shipo seemed to be trying to extrapolate CR's comment to mean that the 530i is the most reliable vehicle ever. That's clearly not what they were saying at all.

#22731 of 30250 BigOrange30 by shipo

Apr 17, 2003 (7:45 am)

but shipo seemed to be trying to extrapolate CR's comment to mean that the 530i is the most reliable vehicle ever. That's clearly not what they were saying at all.
 
I was? I didn't know that. What I was trying to say is that regardless of how reliable CR thinks Japanese cars are (an issue that I have yet to be convinced of); CR gave the 530i their highest ranking ever. Indirectly that seems to imply a fairly reliable car because I am sure that if the 530i wasn't reliable, CR would never have given it the ranking it did.
 
In a separate issue regarding how CR ranks the 3-Series, I have to wonder what they are thinking. It seems that due to the 2001 Aux. Cooling Fan issue (Siemens AG delivered a faulty series of cooling fans to BMW and caused all sorts of havoc, which has since been rectified) CR has removed the 3-Series from their list of recommended cars. In a separate development, in spite of Honda's 3+ years of transmission problems (my neighbor has two affected Hondas that collectively have suffered three transmission failures), these cars are still recommended.
 
From where I sit, I am more than happy to stay with my "Unreliable" German cars, which have been almost totally reliable (I am currently on my fifth one, and the only one that had any issues was my limited production 1982 Audi Coupe Quattro). As for "Reliable" Japanese cars, my one and only example was such a pile of junk that I had to dump it (at a substantial loss I might add) after only 19 months. Guess what I replaced it with. Yup, a German car.
 
Best Regards,
Shipo

#22732 of 30250 shipo by bigorange30

Apr 17, 2003 (7:59 am)

"CR gave the 530i their highest ranking ever. Indirectly that seems to imply a fairly reliable car because I am sure that if the 530i wasn't reliable, CR would never have given it the ranking it did."
 
That doesn't imply that at all. It only has to be relaible for a few days to get through their test. The test has nothing to do with reliability.
 
As far as their list of recommended cars, that's a subjective thing that I don't put as much stock in as I do the actual data. Fortunately the recommendation is based on the data but tries to take it and put it into a summary. I like to go by the red and black circles because that is the ACTUAL data. Their OPINIONS about test drives are good but should be taken with many others. Everyone has an opinion and they are all different in some way. If the criteria is handling and performance and you want to know before you buy, read many test reviews and then take a test drive yourself. These things can be very subjective. CR's red and black cirlces on reliability are just factual data that require no subjective interpretation.

#22733 of 30250 by kdshapiro

Apr 17, 2003 (8:13 am)

"That doesn't imply that at all. It only has to be relaible for a few days to get through their test."
 
I disagree with that assertion, that a vehicle is rated the "best ever" based on a couple of days worth of testing and it only has to not break down in 2 days.
 
I do agree that reliability is one component of CRs overall rating, however, one could rightfully assume, an overpriced unreliable piece of junk is not going to get crowned, the "best ever". Even if other venues may be "more reliable".

Messages Page 2274 of 3026

To POST a message, please Sign In.

Advertisement

Browse by Category

Browse by Vehicle
   View All Vehicles

Browse by Board
Browse by Topic
View All Topics

Edmunds Community

Advertisement